More Beautiful than the Rain
by Tea-and-Onigiri
Summary: Another quick one-shot I wrote as a stress-relief tool during standardized testing. DavexJade, approx. 2,000 words. Rated T for profanities.
1. Chapter 1

More Beautiful Than the Rain

DavexJade One-Shot Fanfic

It's raining today. Because it'll leave streaks on my shades, I'm taking temporary refuge in front of a quaint-looking shop that fancy people may patronize; based on a couple of glances inside, this store sells gourmet dog food. This means I'd better get a move on soon, because I wouldn't be caught dead in front of something so retarded.

Okay, okay, I know, why am I calling fancy dog treats stupid when I'm the thirteen-year-old white kid hanging out in downtown Houston in the rain.

Obviously you've never been bored shitless.

I'm not exactly a "social butterfly", so I have no people I could call friends to hang out with on a Saturday. I got John and Rose, though, but they live on either side of the country while I sit in this lameness known as Central Time. Another Nic Cage film premiered today, so John is at the movies, unavailable for talking. Rose as been really sporadic about logging onto Pesterchum in general as of late, but she did say that she was working real hard on her wizard fanfic. Bro, the person who's raised me as his own since before I could walk, has been watching MLP re-runs all day (I like the show too, but not as much as him). Surely, when I return home, he'll have another ninja trap for me to take care of. It is weird that my older brother trains my for battle every day and has Japanese weaponry scattered all around the house and makes puppet smut, but I'm used to it. Bro's just really cool like that.

Some lady from inside the store is glaring at me through the window now. I can tell she's getting ready to lecture me about loitering and how it leads to drugs and being drunk off your ass and teenage pregnancy and juggalos, so I pull on the hood of my dark red zippie and study my surroundings like a fucking ninja, just like Bro has drilled into my mind since I was two.

It's pouring out here, but that doesn't stop people from milling around the sidewalks. Children, who skip alongside their parents, seem to be really excited about this rain. They've got good reason to, seeing as it hardly rains here, even with the desert being further west. The whole state's been in drought conditions for the past few years now, so any trace of drizzle is a godsend.

Cars navigate the slippery roads that stretch out in front of me, and their windshield wipers are working into overdrive. The rain itself forms a barrier between me and the outside world, but I step out from under my cover anyway. I'm drenched almost immediately, but it's better that being eyeballed by the old lady.

This is when I finally notice her.

I can't believe I didn't catch her when I was observing the area, because even from here in the rain, she looks pretty cute. Down the street from me, standing on the sidewalk, is a girl who looks to be around my age. She's a bit shorter than me and has long black hair, glasses, and just enough of a tan that gets me to assume she's Asian. She wears a Squiddles shirt covered by and unbuttoned grey vest with a plaid skirt and cowboy boots; the mark of a tourist, unless she's actually a redneck, which I doubt. Granted, the outfit is a bit eccentric, but I find it a breath of fresh air when compared to the eighth grade whores at my school.

On top of that, she's also obviously lost. She has a distressed look on her face as she squints at a paper map in her hands. This relentless rain is ruining her wimpy map, and I wonder why she doesn't find cover.

Before I go any further, we need to establish that I find real people odd and a bit disturbing. I've avoided having to deal with them for the most part. However, something at the back of my mind is nagging me and telling me that this girl is important. I decide to casually walk towards her; my apartment is that way anyway.

Dammit. My feet quit moving once I get to be a few yards away from her. I'm lucky my shades are on, because she shouldn't be able to tell that I'm staring at her and her short skirt. However, she does look up at me from her map, and I'm afraid I've been caught.

The girl smiles, which indicates she doesn't think I'm a perv. She walks up to me, and for a brief second, I wonder if she has the same premonition about me that I do about her.

"Hello," she greets. From this close, I can tell she isn't beautiful by society's standards. She's got an overbite that needs correction, round glasses, and unruly hair that has been soaked by the weather. I like that. She's not fake like every other person I've met. She's real, untainted by makeup and fashion trends and pop culture. She's her own person.

"…was wondering if you knew," I hear her finish telling me. God dammit! I wasn't paying any attention after "hello". Jegus, Dave, think of a save…

"Could you say that again?" I ask. The girl looks puzzled. "The rain's loud. I couldn't really make out everything."

She giggles. "Oh, alright. Well, I was just noticing that you look like you know the area well. I'm lost… and it's awkward to ask an adult for help, at least to me. Maybe you could help me?"

For a moment, I'm not sure how to answer. I honestly do want to get to know her better, but new people are so weird to talk to. When I talk with John and Rose, I can always resort to rapping or being ironic. But when situations get this ironic… even I have trouble. And I fucking _invented _irony.

"No prob," I finally manage. "But first, you should dry off. Unless you happen to enjoy hypothermia."

Despite the fact my comment had rude undertones (to my ears, because I suck at talking), she smiles, and I lead her in to the convention center across the street. It's a convenient enough place where we can sit on a bench, out of the conditions.

"I'm Jade, by the way", she tells me as we sit down.

"I'm Dave," I reply. "So what are you looking for anyways?"

"The convention center," she responds.

I want to laugh, which is a rare occurrence in the Strider household. "Bro, you're there."

Jade looks around and has a great realization. She laughs at herself and presses her palm to her forehead. It's obvious that she tends to be a bit absent-minded, not just because of what I've observed of her behavior, but because of her hands. Only a few of her are entirely painted lime green; as if she began to paint and then fell asleep in the middle of the job. Not to mention, she has an assortment of multi-colored, tiny, rubber bands on her fingers. I'm not sure why they're there, but they are defiantly the mark of someone who is a bit more… quirky, than other people.

"You new to Houston?" I ask. It's a dumb question because of how obvious she makes the fact she's an out-of-towner.

"Yep! I'm here for the garden show!" She beams a bright smile, so I assume that gardening is a passion of hers. "My grandpa finally got me tickets. We don't live anywhere near Texas, though. I have yet to understand his logic. Still, I'm really excited!"

"That's really cool," I reply. I'm afraid my placidity about everything will make her think I don't relate, so I add to my response. "I'm no good with living things. I just stick to my turntables."

I can't really say exactly how the conversation went, but we wind up talking for a while. I find out lots about Jade; how she plays bass guitar, how she as a bit of an obsession with Squiddles, how the bands on her fingers are a system for remembering things, and how she's a diagnosed narcoleptic. Normally, I'm tight lipped and aloof, but I do share a bit about my webcomic and Bro and irony.

But despite everything that is discussed between us, only a single thought can be processed by my mind; Jade is beautiful, more beautiful than anything.

It's too bad, though. I have no shot with her. A long distance relationship between us has no chance of survival if we've only met once. The fact I've always been the "ask-ee" rather than the "asker" makes things worse. I've only been asked out by others (and then turned them down). Lack of experience with confessions and relationships puts me in a bad position with her.

I'm about to ask Jade if she has a Pesterchum when I realize we're being watched from outside the convention center's glass doors. Five, maybe six kids from my middle school are standing there and giving us looks. They're all wannabe gangsters with saggy pants and long solid-color shirts. It's stopped raining, but their clothes are wet and the sky is still a milky grey. Now that they realize I've spotted them, they walk in to where Jade and I are, obviously eager to mess with us.

Oh, hell no.

One of them has a smug smirk on his face as he stands in front of me. "Strider, since when do you got a girlfriend?"

I stare at him.

"You think you're cool, huh."

I stare at him.

"Okay, I got whores too, but-"

I do believe that the case over whether or not kids my age have any clue about what kind of crap comes out of their mouth has been rested now. My anger's been pushed over the boiling point, and it takes every ounce of my being to not pummel this guy into submission. I stand up and get in his face, glaring at him through my sunglasses. "Fuck off now, or I will break your legs," I grumble, so Jade won't hear.

I should have known that my comments would only amuse these idiots. They laugh, and one says. "Aw, he's fucking trying to be cool!"

I'm in a worse mood now. A scowl stretches across my face, and I'm not sure why, but I grab Jade's wrist. "C'mon," I say. She understands and rises from her seat.

I begin to lead her to another part of the convention center. I know the place pretty well, having been here for bro's anime cons and stuff. We've moved away from the try-hards, though they keep following us, teasing us with profanities. Fortunately, there's a bunch of old people in here that glare at them, so they leave on their own after a while. Thank God, too, because I was on the verge of making a huge scene.

Holding Jade's wrist was making me nervous, so I drop it. I hope I'm not blushing…

"Do you know them?" she asks both innocently and cautiously; she knows that I want to punch something.

"Unfortunately, yeah," I reply. "They go to my school."

Jade nods her head in understanding. "School can be pretty rough, can't it?"

"Yeah, but that whole thing wasn't as much just them… it was because of the things they said about you. I couldn't take it because you're too nice of a person, and they shouldn't just assume you're like everyone else," I admit, accidentally rambling. Jade blushes, but I assume it's because she's flattered.

Now, an awkward silence settles between us. My best guess says it's because she needs to leave, but I don't want her to go. Nonchalantly, I pull out my iPhone to check Pesterchum.

"Hey! Maybe we could take a picture together!" Jade points out with a smile.

I nod my head in agreement and let Jade come closer to me while I lean against a wall. With the phone in my right hind, I raise it up in front of us.

"Smile for the camera!" Jade cheers.

I'm not the type of guy to look happy very often. Even around John and Rose and Bro, I prefer to keep a more serious persona. But Jade is different. There's just something about her… I can't describe it very well, but whatever it is, it gets the corners of my mouth to lift as my finger taps the camera button.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello. ^^ For anyone following this story, this is an update to say that it is being continued! The "next chapter" is an entirely new story, however, which can be found here: s/9099802/1/I-ll-Find-You

Please enjoy!


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